The first computer was unveiled in 1942 and it tipped the scales at 700 pounds and covered 800 square feet of landscape. It was far from reliable, requiring continuous maintenance of the 280 unstable vacuum tubes it needed to calculate algebraic equations. A modern, 2-pound laptop can run circles around its ancestor, offering small business owners assistance with inventory, payroll, marketing and more. Yet for all of its technological advancements, today’s laptop can be every bit as fragile as its Herculean predecessor. Because its keyboard is positioned directly over its vital components, all it takes is one spilled beverage to cut short a laptop’s life. That’s not to say it would be beyond saving. Should your drink take a tumble, it is possible to keep your laptop alive -- providing you react quickly.

Cut the power as quickly as possible. Liquid is an excellent conductor of electricity, so once your spilled drink makes its way through the spaces between your laptop’s keyboard keys, it could form a number of conductive bridges to components that aren’t meant to handle a direct current. Also, if the liquid makes its way to the cooling fan, it could end up being sprayed all over the laptop’s internal components. You’ll increase your laptop's chances of survival by immediately pressing and holding down the power button while unplugging the power cord.

Flip the laptop over and set it on a dry towel. With the keyboard facing down, gravity will help draw the liquid away from the motherboard and its critical components -- and it will go back out the way it came in.

Remove the screws that secure the battery cover with a Phillips-head screwdriver. Lift off the cover and remove the battery. Set it aside in a dry place.

Remove the screws that secure the laptop’s hard drive and RAM covers with a Phillips-head screwdriver. Lift off both covers, remove the hard drive and RAM, and set them aside in a dry place.

Leave the laptop upside-down for 24 hours to allow a majority of the liquid to drain or evaporate.

Lift the laptop and gently tilt it back and forth to free any drops of moisture that might be trapped inside. Set it back down and wait another 24 hours to make absolutely sure all the liquid is gone.

Flip your laptop over. Examine the keys to see if the offending beverage left visible stains or a sticky coating on any of them.

Determine whether any of the keys stick by pressing down each one and quickly releasing it. If the keyboard is free of stains, sticky substances and keys that stick, skip ahead to Step 13.

Select one of the keys that sticks or needs to be cleaned. Place the tip of a flat-head screwdriver against the side of the key that’s closest to you and gently push down, wedging the screwdriver between the key you want to remove and the key or keys directly below it. Pull back on the screwdriver to pop off the keycap. Repeat the process for each key that sticks or is soiled.

Clean the drink-soiled keycaps with a damp cloth. Place them on a cloth or paper towel to dry.

Dip the end of a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol. Select a key switch that sticks and clean it with the alcohol-dampened end of the swab. Make sure the rubber membrane and contact points are clean as well. Repeat the process for each key switch that sticks.

Return the keycaps to their proper locations and turn the laptop upside-down.

Insert the hard drive and RAM in their respective cavities and replace their covers. Secure them using the screws you removed earlier.

Insert your laptop’s battery in its proper compartment and replace the cover. Insert the screws you removed earlier and tighten with a Phillips-head screwdriver.

Return the laptop to its upright position, plug in its power cord and power on the device.

Things Needed

Dry cloth, towel or paper towels

Phillips-head screwdriver

Flat-head screwdriver

Cotton swabs

Rubbing alcohol

Pen or pencil

Paper

Tips

To avoid future spills, try getting into the habit of drinking from sports bottles with pull-up spouts.

If you don’t have another laptop or keyboard around to use as a guide, you might want to draw a diagram of the keyboard before popping off any keys. You can refer to it if you have trouble remembering where they belong.

During your 48-hour wait, take some time to back up all of the important data on your laptop's hard drive.

Warnings

If you were working on something when the spill occurred, resist the urge to save your work before attacking the spill. Seconds count. The sooner you stop electricity from flowing into your laptop, the more likely you’ll be able to save it from being permanently damaged.

Even though liquid may stop dripping from your laptop after a few hours, make sure you wait the full 48 hours before attempting to restart it. It takes only a few strategically placed drops of liquid to close the curtain on your laptop’s life.

Don’t use a hair dryer to help evaporate the liquid. While doing so might indeed speed up the drying process, the air produced by most hair dryers is too hot for many internal components and may cause irreparable damage.

About the Author

John Machay began writing professionally in 1984. Since then, his work has surfaced in the "West Valley View," "The Sean Hannity Show," "Scam Dunk" and in his own book, "Knuckleheads In the News." His efforts have earned him the Ottoway News Award and Billboard magazine honors for five straight years. Machay studied creative writing at Columbia College in Chicago.